Thursday, July 07, 2016

Review: "The Last Laugh: Crime Stories" by Paul D. Brazill

The Last Laugh, a collection of short crime stories by Paul D. Brazill,
opens with the signature story “The Last Laugh.” Godard comes back to reality
on a hot day in the doorway of a record shop. He might be in Madrid, but
he isn’t sure. The dream might have been real or might not. It has been a bad few
days and he is feeling it in every fiber of his being. Though, for a man that
is supposed to be dead, he is doing okay. Well enough to deal with a
complicated problem because, though he mellowed a bit while underground, he
still has the stones to do what needs to be done.

Toby Richards likes being whipped by
Ania Nowak even while it has gotten rather boring for her. But, she does
what she has to do to survive. In “The Luck
Of The Devil” Ania and film director Toby Richards are just two players in a
complicated situation involving what might be the skull ring of Himmler.

Mickey Mike Calloway is always
hatching get rich plans during drinking binges with his friends. Normally, in
the cold light of day, such plans are forgotten. But, one such plan stuck with
the postman known to all as “Diggsy.” In
“Route 66 And All That” the basic idea to get rich is to rip off a man known to
everyone as “Big John Little.”

A get rich quick scheme is also at
the heart of “The Postman Cometh” where some of the characters of the previous
story make a return engagement. Mikey Mike has an idea how they could take over
a certain local pub and become wealthy. Or, at the very least, better off than
they are now. Not all the business conducted in the pub is above board and law
abiding as there are various side businesses being conducted in the establishment.

This same idea naturally leads into
the next story titled, “Up The Creek.” Paul Garner of the local record store
has a deal with Mikey Mike. A bit of business is being conducted when Diggsy
sees Eileen Calloway out on the street. Based on her attire and the black bag
she is carrying she might be back in the burglary game. If so, that could be a
serious problem. Not just because she is Mikey Mike’s sister.

Bertie Peaslee has really done it
this time in “A Bit Of A Pickle.” He needs help and not just with getting
rid of a body. Though that needs to be done too.

A cold winter night in Warsaw by way
of “Red Esperanto” and Tatiana’s place is very claustrophobic at the moment.
Looking over at the glass elevator at Westin Hotel does not help. More booze as
well as Tatiana’s services, of which he will pay for, might help before he
meets others at a local bar where plans sure to go wrong will be hatched and
stories will be told.

The annual meeting of writers and
crime fiction fans known as “Bullets in the bookshop” in Blackstone’s Bookshop
in Cambridge is underway. Julian Stroud is holding court and is the target of a
journalist representing the Madrid Review. Known as Luke Case, the journalist does
quite a few things and not all of them are above board in “One Of Those Days In
England.”

Jude Walker is very much dead and
probably had it coming. Why Ginger Ronny had to confess to Burkey about it
after a night of heavy drinking Burkey had no idea. It wasn’t like they were
even friends. But, he had. Now Ronny is about to make things way worse.

Quigley is working “The Bucket List”
for the exact reason one would expect. His version is a list of folks who
should be permanently taken off the board.One of those names is Jacko Butler. He wasn’t the only name on the Quigley’s list
that dates back to childhood. There are lots of scores to settle.

Lewis Quad also deserved to die in “A
Dead Pimp In The Trunk.” But, that isn’t the point. What happened next is
what matters in this tale.

He’d never thought he would ever
pick up a hitchhiker. Even if she had great legs like this one on the side of the
road somewhere a little down the road from Leeds. Of course, he’d also never
had the idea that he would have to flee his six bedroom home in Essex in a
stolen car. Now he is doing both in “A Tissue Of Webs. The fact she has a white
guitar case is also important.

There are those days when everything
you do goes very bad. Being the top dog at Premier Properties means there is
always more than one young buck looking to take you down. That is not going to
happen in “The Weather Prophet.” When Ed started at wrong in life he thought it
gave him a heck of an edge sales wise and until now that has been true.

Everything that ever went bad in
Peter Robson’s life could be blamed on the old Victorian house at 10 Sycamore Hill.
“This Old House” is the bane of his existence. One late October night he came
up with the same brilliant idea others before him have had over the decades to
get rid of the problem. Like all plans, bad or otherwise, execution is the key.
One has to have good help.

Lee Madison is haunted by the past
in “The Return Of The Tingle.” One can never escape the past as it always is a major
motivation in our lives. That fact is certainly true for Lee Madison.

Marcus Finch is in quite the mood
when he leaves the Blackjax Casino with his younger brother, Toby, in tow. In “Silver
Dream Racer” it is time for Marcus and Toby to hunt for action. The hunt is also a way to vent off the rage
building in Marcus. Others are hunting as well.

First seen in the story in “The Luck
Of The Devil” Himmler’s skull ring takes the starring role in “The Skull Ring.”
Found on a stormy night that broke the stifling summer heat it was on the
ground next to the dumpster. Just up the alley behind the Methodist church,
Rowan woke up. He spotted the ring, picked it up before staggering home, where
his life changed forever.

Lightning Jones is tall, beautiful,
and extremely loud. She is also trouble in “The Lady And The Gimp.” For Private
Detective Peter Ord she could turn out to be a problem he is going to deal with
very soon.

Dealing with a drunk and drugged up
Craig Ferry is just part of the job in “Who Killed Skippy?” Private Detective Peter
Ord has known Craig since they were kids. The job is not getting any easier.

Oliver Robison finally snapped and
ended his wife’s life using a couch cushion. Gloria is dead, but that did
not solve the problem in “The Tut.”

If you have read A
Case of Noir, Gumshoe,
13
Shots of Noir, Guns
Of Brixton, or any of the other numerous works by author Paul D.
Brazill you know what to expect. Stories filled with characters that experience
constant hard times, drink a lot, and do what they have to survive. The Last
Laugh most definitely lives up to its billing of “Crime Stories.” From start to
finish in each tale the crime is the thing. The how, the why, and the players
all change, but a crime remains the focus of each tale. As is the noir spirit
regardless of the European setting of these twenty short stories.

Kevin's Corner

Sandi's Cancer Fight Is Over

Thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and support for the past six years plus as Sandi did everything she could to be here with all of us. She is now free and not hurting anymore. I am still trying to pay off her past treatments at Medical City Dallas Hospital as well as at Texas Oncology. While the hospital can't handle direct donations, if you can help and would prefer to donate directly, please contact Debra, the financial counselor at TEXAS ONCOLOGY in SUITE 220 of Building D at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas. We thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and support for the past six years plus as Sandi did everything she could to be here with all of us.